The late Al Unser Sr was just one of a very exclusive club of drivers to be four time Indy 500 winners. Who are the other drivers to have won the Indy 500 in four separate years?
Unser Sr passed away at home in New Mexico on December 9th after a long battle with cancer.
A native of the state, he took his first steps in the professional racing ranks in the mid-1960s in USAC – a precursor to the IndyCar Series of today.
By 1970, he had claimed the series championship for Parnelli Jones Racing.
That year, he also took a maiden triumph in the Indianapolis 500 – forever cementing his status as an icon of American motorsport.
Unser would win the Indy 500 four times in all, but how many other drivers have won the Indy 500 four times? What is the longest span between wins?
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Al Unser Sr Indy 500 record
Unser became just the fourth driver to ever win the race back-to-back in 1971. Only one has done it since.
He could not become the first driver to record three straight triumphs at the Speedway, and to-date, nobody has done so.
Come 1978, he was drinking the milk again as he nursed an ailing Lola chassis home for his third win.
At the time, Unser was just the fifth driver to record a tally of three Indy 500 wins.
He’d have to wait nearly a decade for Borg-Warner Trophy #4.
By now nearer the end than the start, Unser was without a ride for the 1987 ‘500, until a last minute deal with Roger Penske.
Just five days before he hit 48, he claimed that elusive fourth Indy 500 title.
In doing so, Unser became the oldest driver to ever win the Indy 500 at 47 years, 360 days.
He is not the only Unser to claim the Indy 500, however…
Unser family Indy 500 wins
- Al Unser Sr – 4 – 1970, 1971, 1978, 1987
- Bobby Unser (brother) – 3 – 1968, 1975, 1981
- Al Our Jr – 2 – 1992, 1994
Unser Sr and Jr are the only father/son duo to have won the Indy 500.
Other four-time Indy 500 winners
Unser Sr was not the first to take four wins around IMS.
That honour fell to A.J Foyt in 1977.
Foyt claimed his four Indy 500 wins in a 16 year span from 1961-1977.
Foyt did not only excel at Indy however.
He holds the distinct record of being the only driver in the history of motorsport to have won the following races:
- Indy 500 – Indycars
- Daytona 500 – NASCAR
- Daytona 24 Hours – Sportscars
- Le Mans 24 Hours – Sportscars
- Sebring 12 Hours – Sportscars
For good measure, he also picked up seven Champ Car titles (another pre-cursor to IndyCar) and 67 wins in the series – both records to this day.
Rick Mears needed just 13 attempts to win his four Indy 500s between 1979 and 1991.
The three-time series champion was the third driver to win four Indy 500s, and the last until thirty years later in 2021.
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Spiderman is back
Famed for climbing fences after winning, IMS had not seen ‘Spiderman’ in action since 2009.
But for 2021, he was back and delivered in style.
Helio Castroneves is the only foreign-born driver to win the race four times.
Born in Brazil, he first claimed success in 2001, defending it in 2002.
After giving up a full-time IndyCar career, Castroneves was released by long-time employer Penske from his Indy 500 special deal for 2021.
He landed at Meyer Shank Racing – and ended up winning the thing, because, why not?
‘Spiderman’ sparked wild scenes at IMS as crowds returned in 2021 after the shutout in 2020.
Castroneves holds the record for the longest span of wins of the four-time club with 20 years.
Four-time Indy 500 winners
- A.J Foyt – 1961, 1964, 1967, 1977
- Al Unser Sr – 1970, 1971, 1978, 1987
- Rick Mears – 1979, 1984, 1988, 1991
- Helio Castroneves – 2001, 2002, 2009, 2021
Between them with their 16 wins, the four drivers have won 15.23% of all Indy 500s ever run.
Since Foyt’s first win in 1961, that climbs to 26.6%.
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